The good news this morning is that I have just received word that another rather longish sword and sorcery yarn of mine has been accepted for publication. Unfortunately, I am not allowed as yet to reveal any more details about it other than that the story is called The Demon From Another World.
This marks the eighth new story chosen for publication this year.
Just received one of the largest hardcover books in my posssession, Volume 1 of The Complete World of Horror, which contains a reproduction of the first three issues of that iconic magazine from the mid 1970s. Although I had nothing in these earliest issues, I did have a couple of stories in later ones, The Shade of Apollyon and Terror on the Moors, illustrated by Jim Pitts, which I hope to see eventually in volumes 2 and 3.
The Complete World of Horror is published by Confessions Press, edited by Gent Shaw with a Foreword by John Probert.
Anyone interested in buying a copy could use this link to Confessions Press.
I am very pleased to be able to announce that my latest sword and sorcery story, an 8000 word yarn called In the Temple of the Snake, is in the latest issue of Crimson Quill Quarterly, along with some stellar contribributors.
Crimson Quill Quarterly is available as a papertback and kindle eBook.
A City of Phantoms (Part 2 of 2): Teel James Glenn - When their
caravan is attacked, Dunal and Ada are captured and taken to the
legendary city of Atlaztan, a frightening madhouse of magick and murder,
and it is up to the two companions to not only survive - but escape
against all odds!
Backed Up in Iber: Carl Ellis - Ceeon, wayward,
once-retired thief, drowning in medical debt, takes on one final job in
the hopes of rebuilding his life and reconnecting with his daughter.
All he has to do is steal some items from one of the most heavily
guarded vaults in all of Iber!
King of Killers: Mario Curic - The
barbarian king Keroveh rules the former No Man's Land with the aid of
an army of sellswords and an ancient relic of mysterious power. When
another mercenary carries a similar gift arrives to offer his services,
the ruthless warlord sees an opportunity to spread his reach, all the
while plagued by a worm of doubt.
Trollslayer: Susan Murrie
Macdonald - After being sent on what Vilne believed would be a boring
errand, it was not long before he began to detect the presence of nearby
trolls. After destroying their dwelling, he is set upon by a pair of
the foul monstrosities. These monsters, however, may not be as mindless
or heartless as legend has let on.
In the Temple of the Snake:
David A. Riley - To the snake charmer, the proferred journey to the
Temple of the Snake by the secretive sorcerer Roannda Caltrani was
barely a challenge to his abilities, and in the end it would make him
wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. Little did he suspect that the horrors
he would find inside the forbidden temple would be incredibly far worse
than anything he could have imagined and would change his life forever.
Trail
of Steel: Damir Salkovic - Having narrowly escaped a hanging, three
unlikely companions rob a wealthy merchant, set free a chain of slaves,
and become embroiled in a tribal feud as they flee civilization. Over
the mountains, the unruly coast beckons, a frontier of sinister magic
and hungry swords where they hope to escape their past misdeeds. But
redemption has a price, and the dangers are many on the trail of steel.
The
Drakvur Challenge: Rab Foster - In a temple dedicated to a mysterious
deity known as Drakvur, at dawn on the longest day of the year, six
prisoners are forced to take part in a ritual. They must race across a
lake using stepping stones that weave between sinister statues and rise
above shoals of hungry fish. Unfortunately, they have a seventh
competitor to deal with: Drakvur itself...
Hodder & Stoughton 2024, 450 pages
Available in hardcover
I am a big fan of John Connolly’s Charlie Parker novels, all of which I have read. This, unbelievably, is the twenty-first!
You would perhaps expect after so many tales for there to be a gradual lessening of originality but believe me The Instruments of Darkness reads as fresh as ever. With its subtle blend of crime and the supernatural, you are never quite sure where common criminality ends and worse takes over. And believe me however bad common criminality is the other is far, far worse.
This is certainly the case here where Parker is hired to look into the guilt or otherwise of Colleen Clark whose young son has disappeared, either kidnapped or murdered. The local district attorney, out to make a name for himself in an upcoming election to higher office, and his equally ambitious assistant, out to take his place when he steps up, are determined to prove Colleen is guilty of murdering her son and hiding his body. Compounding how bad things look for her, her estranged husband finds a bloodstained blanket in the boot of Colleen’s car and is outspoken in his belief his wife is their son’s killer. Things, indeed, look bad for Colleen, but she is lucky in having recurring character Moxie Castin as her lawyer, who wisely asks Parker to investigate what happened.
And so begins a darkening tale of mysteries, intrigues and malign influences.
Connolly has again given us a great cast of vividly depicted characters, whether they’re people you love, pity, despise or hate. Plus plenty of action. And we also have other recurring characters we are used to expect in any Charlie Parker novel, such as Angel and Louie.
The last Charlie Parker book, The Furies, was made up of two novellas, which I found less satisfying. Thankfully The Instruments of Darkness is one long, full-blooded novel, into which it is easy to become thoroughly absorbed. The only problem for me, despite being well over four hundred pages in length, is that I found it such a page-turner it didn’t take me long to finish it! Now I have at least another year, perhaps more, before I can dip into another.
This review was first published in Phantasmagoria Magazine Summer 2024
DMR Books 2023, 336 pages
Available in hardcover, paperback, and kindle
First of all I must make an admission of being a huge fan of anything to do with Rome, especially in the first century AD, during and after the emperor Augustus. One of my favourite series of novels are of Centurion Macro and his friend Cato by Simon Scarrow.
So you can imagine how much I was looking forward to reading this. And I was not disappointed. With Germanicus, Lord of Eagles Adrian Cole has embarked on an ambitious rewrite of Roman history in the early empire, in which events have been derailed from those we know by the sinister machinations of two competing secret cults steeped in sorcery, the Via Sinister and the Via Tenebrae, whose plots are as mysterious in their objectives as they are blatantly malevolent.
Our first glimpse of their malign intervention comes in the opening pages when the man who would have otherwise become Emperor Claudius in years to come is brutally murdered while still only a young man. As a result of these plots other players in Roman history either manage to live far longer than they did or meet different, sometimes horrifying fates.
Germanicus, Lord of Eagles has an impressively large cast of characters spread across the length and breadth of the Roman Empire, from the rain-drenched forests of Germania to the sun-baked cities of Egypt and Judea. As the plot has already deviated from historical fact there is, of course, the added tension of now not knowing what will befall anyone. Being rather pro-Roman I must admit to feeling concerned about the plot to assassinate Germanicus, next in line to be emperor after the aging Tiberius, so as to enable Caligula to succeed him instead. I won’t give anything away, as it’s all in the lap of the gods, so to speak. Or at least in the lap of Adrian Cole, who knows how to create wonderfully vivid characters and intriguing plots and has obviously made a thorough study of this period.
I won’t give away any plot details as this would spoil reading this book, except to say that it is eventful, vivid and thoroughly credible once you accept the involvement of the supernatural behind the scenes. There are many really likeable characters – and no shortage of the opposite, including the ever scheming, massively ambitious Sejanus, prefect of the praetorium guard, who I still remember from the BBC adaptation of Robert Graves’ I, Claudius, in which he was brilliantly portrayed by a young Patrick Stewart.
Germanicus, Lord of Eagles is a far cry from Adrian Coles’ Elak stories, with much less use of the supernatural, but when it occurs it certainly makes an impact. With so many individuals’ storylines still ongoing, and with the plotting of both Via Sinister and Via Tenebrae deepening I am looking forward to reading the next in this brilliantly conceived series.
This review was first published in Phantasmagoria Magazine Summer 2024
Here are two quick links to the trilogy so far:
Stories included in Elak, King of Atlantis are:
BLOOD OF THE MOON GOD
First published in Strange Tales, no 10, Wildside Press (US), 2007, in a slightly different version.
WITCH QUEEN OF DOOM ISLAND
First published in Worlds of the Unknown, no 1, Spectre Press (UK), 2014.
REVENGE OF THE SORCERER
First published in magazine form in Skelos, no 4, edited by Mark Finn, 2020, (US) and reprinted in 1st edition of ELAK, KING OF ATLANTIS, 2020 (US).
SPAWN OF THE SEA GOD
First published in The Mighty Warriors, Ulthar Press (US), 2018.
SKY WARRIORS OF ATLANTIS
First appears in this volume.
SAVAGE REALMS MONTHLY: Tales of Swords and Sorcery
May 2024 # 28
Edited by Willard Black
Literary Rebel LLC, 2024
109 pages
Savage Realms Monthly is now up to its 28th issue. Each issue publishes three stories, often by new writers. This month’s features the return of Steve Dilks, who has the distinction of having had a story in the very first issue. He returns with his popular character, Bohun, a huge black mercenary whose adventures feature frequently in Steve’s stories. Red Trail of Vengeance brings Bohun into contact with a desperate and violent gang of cutthroats who ambush him and, after inflicting him with some sadist tortures, leave him for dead. Which is a big mistake as Bohun is not so easily killed. Even before he has fully recovered from his injuries, Bohun sets out for the bloody vengeance of the title, which takes him to the tyrannically run city of Dhamur from where the cutthroats sprang. When reading sword and sorcery stories I must admit to preferring long stories in which the writer can all but weave a yarn with an involved plot. Which is exactly what Dilks gives us here. Without a doubt Red Trail of Vengeance is the standout story in this issue, with some great fight scenes and finely woven twists and turns and vividly drawn characters. Not that Matthew McConkey’s Last Sigh of the Sea is not brilliant in itself, with a story that edges close to being a fable, as the ruthless King Aelfydd extorts enormous powers by torture from a sorceress which he uses to fulfil his own insatiable ambitions, despite dire warnings of the catastrophic fate he risks by doing so. A well told tale with an increasingly more ominous climax. The final story is John DeLaughter’s Last of the Star-Crossed Wizards, an involved tale of intrigue and double-dealings by powerful beings with whom it is dangerous for mere humans to become involved, laced with some dark humour.
All
in all another excellent issue, proving that Savage Realms Monthly is a
reliable cornerstone of the current resurgence of interest in the sword and
sorcery genre.
Nine tales of mystery and suspense featuring friends and rivals of
Sherlock Holmes pitting their investigative skills against Lovecraftian
horrors. Enter the halls of madness as each of our contributors
‘channel the spirits’ of Victorian and Edwardian age detectives who
graced the dime novels and pulp magazines of that golden era.
Novelets
by Derrick Belanger, Gustavo Bondoni, Mike Chinn, Vonnie Winslow Crist,
Steve Doyle, Elana Gomel, Stephen Herczeg, Naching T. Kassa, and David
A. Riley. Interior illustrations by Gilead the Artist accompany each
story. Edited by Lyndon Perry and published by Tule Fog Press.
It's available here:
It's 320 pages contain the following stories:
I am very pleased to be able to reveal that my 8700 word sword and sorcery tale In the Temple of the Snake will be in the third issue of Crimson Quill Quarterly. This will feature another appearance by Nadrain the Storyteller, though not in a central role this time.
Nadrain previously appeared in The Storyteller of Koss (Summer of Sci-Fi & Fantasy), The Dark Priestdom (Savage Realms Monthly - #19) and Welgar the Cursed (Swords & Heroes).
My Medusa-themed story An Oddity, which appeared in the January issue of Schlock! Webzine, is now scheduled to be reprinted in an American anthology. More details later.
An Oddity was first published here in January 2024. I was especially pleased with the cover illustration of the Gorgon, painted by the brilliant Sixteenth Century Italian artist Caravaggio.
My 8700 word sword and sorcery tale In the Temple of the Snake has been accepted for publication later this year. More details soon.
This will mark my seventh brand new story to be published in 2024.
Brand new, originally called just Cyramon, it is now to be published as The Forbidden City of Cyramon.
Pleased to receive an acceptance this morning from Gavin Chappell, who will be reprinting my early sword and sorcery story Baal the Necromancer in the December issue of Schlock! Webzine. This story was first published in Mythic magazine, now sadly defunct.
